Preview — Lilith's Cave
by Howard Schwartz

Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural

Once upon a time in the city of Tunis, a flirtatious young girl was drawn into Lilith's dangerous web by glancing repeatedly at herself in the mirror. It seems that a demon daughter of the legendary Lilith had made her home in the mirror and would soon completely possess the unsuspecting girl. Such tales of terror and the supernatural occupy an honored position in theOnce upon a time in the city of Tunis, a flirtatious young girl was drawn into Lilith's dangerous web by glancing repeatedly at herself in the mirror. It seems that a demon daughter of the legendary Lilith had made her home in the mirror and would soon completely possess the unsuspecting girl. Such tales of terror and the supernatural occupy an honored position in the Jewish folkloric tradition. Howard Schwartz has superbly translated and retold fifty of the best of these folktales, now collected into one volume for the first time. Gathered from countless sources ranging from the ancient Middle East to twelfth-century Germany and later Eastern European oral tradition, these captivating stories include Jewish variants of the Pandora and Persephone myths and of such famous folktales as "The Fisherman and His Wife," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "Bluebeard," as well as several tales from the Middle Ages that have never before been published. Focusing on crucial turning points in life--birth, marriage, and death--the tales feature wandering spirits, marriage with demons, werewolves, speaking heads, possession by dybbuks (souls of the dead who enter the bodies of the living), and every other kind of supernatural adversary. Readers will encounter a carpenter who is haunted when he makes a violin from the wood of a coffin; a wife who saves herself from the demoness her husband has inadvertently married by agreeing to share him for an hour each day; and the age-old tale of Lilith, Adam's first wife, who refused to submit to him and instead banished herself from the Garden of Eden to give birth to the demons of the world. Drawn from Rabbinic sources, medieval Jewish folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral tradition, these stories will equally entrance readers of Jewish literature and those with an affection for fantasy and the supernatural....more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published
December 12th 1991
by Oxford University Press, USA
(first published 1988)

Community Reviews

Asmodeus and Lilith are the crown regent of the sitra achra or the other side. They rule over all the demon. Both King an Queen are spoken of quite frequently in Jewish literature. Asmodeus threw King Solomon out of his palace and too, his place for a number of years. Lilith rebelled against Adams superiority trip and fled the Garden of Eden. She gives birth to demons. I legend she seduces men and kills children unless they are protected with a certain amulet.

This book is a collection of 50 storAsmodeus and Lilith are the crown regent of the sitra achra or the other side. They rule over all the demon. Both King an Queen are spoken of quite frequently in Jewish literature. Asmodeus threw King Solomon out of his palace and too, his place for a number of years. Lilith rebelled against Adams superiority trip and fled the Garden of Eden. She gives birth to demons. I legend she seduces men and kills children unless they are protected with a certain amulet.

This book is a collection of 50 stories regarding the supernatural, collected from the Jews in Europe and from Jewish communes in the Middle East . In these stories Rabbis serve as powerful magicians doing battle against demons, supernatural creatures and other sorcerers . These Rabbis cast circle on the ground , see into the future, raise the dead and caste spell. A good number of stories include Asmodeus and Lilith. In one story a gold smith is about to die in the forest and in order to survive he makes a deal with Asmodeus. He marries his daughter and she lives in the cellar of the goldsmiths shop. He frequent her there and they even have kids. After The affair is discovered. The demon goddess lives there with the offspring until generations later rabbis compel then to leave. In another story Lilith or Queen Sheba seduces a man and lives in siniliar circumstance .

I enjoyed reading this collection and finished it in two days. Th stories pull motifs from Jewish sources like the bible, Talmud and Kabbalah . Yet they also draw from Faery lore. You have women marrying demons and then living with them at the bottom of the ocean. Lots of Faery kings have seduced many a human in so a fashion. In one story two friend are reunited after one dies. They study Torah for a few hours, but the passes quickly and 150 years go by. In the Faery world time moves in such a fashion....more

I read this voraciously when I was a teen, but rereading it now, I'm less enamored. What I liked about it originally was how the supernatural was interwoven with the everyday: the locked cellar door or garden gate might be a portal to hell; the bedroom mirror might be a source of enchantment.

Rereading it as an adult, though, the book feels problematic on several levels. Each tale is told three times: once in a brief, spoilery summary for no reason in the introduction, once in the book itself, inI read this voraciously when I was a teen, but rereading it now, I'm less enamored. What I liked about it originally was how the supernatural was interwoven with the everyday: the locked cellar door or garden gate might be a portal to hell; the bedroom mirror might be a source of enchantment.

Rereading it as an adult, though, the book feels problematic on several levels. Each tale is told three times: once in a brief, spoilery summary for no reason in the introduction, once in the book itself, in better prose, and then a third recap with annotations and commentary in the notes section--I think the book would have been stronger with little or no introduction. I would also have loved some clearer arrangement of stories: Hungarian tales from one century are interspersed with Tunisian stories from another. It would have been interesting to see stories from the same region and era together and see patterns, get a sense of the fears and tensions of each distinct culture. It feels like a missed opportunity.

In terms of content, most of the stories chosen focus on men's strengths and flaws, with women mainly present as victims and temptresses, with very few exceptions. My sense that this was Schwartz's choice rather than purely an issue of source material is strengthened by the illustrations, which mainly feature men bundled in traditional coats and furs confronting naked women. It makes me wonder what fascinating women's tales were left out of this eclectic collection....more

What's best about this book is that the stories are really dark. There's some sexy stuff too. You know how collections of Jewish folk tales are usually like either kid's stuff or chasidic propaganda? Not this time, buddy.

Personally I was somewhat disappointed, only because I had previously read Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales by the same author. Most of the stories in this volume I already knew. However, to be honest, this book predated Leaves by 20 years, and I found the stories to be better written. There were also more illustrations of better quality, so naturally I had to give this book one more star than I gave Leaves.

This collection of stories veered from cautionary fables to some really elaborate (and dark) weird tales about descents into Gehenna and battling demons which really showed me that Jewish folklore can be pretty cool. My favorite parts were using the Ark to teleport between synagogues, the demons tricking people into self-immolation, and the underwater palace of the demons (which fits in nicely with the other book I'm reading Underworld about ruins now covered by water).

Excellent collection of folklore about demons, dybbuks, sorcery, ghosts, werewolves, and a brief summary of Lilith's origin story in the Introduction. The rabbis in these stories are powerful sorcerers who either outwit or bring the forces of evil to rabbinical court to be judged. Each of these very short tales would make a great premise for larger creative work.